These three bowls of greens have not worked out and need to be pulled and composted. First off this spring I had two of those bowls planted in Bok Choi. Worked out well and was very yummy. When the Bok Choi was done I planted one with my mustard seedlings and the other with my Michili cabbage seedlings. Both I did myself from seed.

Well I tasted both, the mustard is hot and not something I would want as greens, that Muchili cabbage is fuzzy leaved and nothing I want to eat. That leaves me with the Swiss Chard which is must have planted too late as it simply will not grow and when tasted it was so bitter.

Oh well, I tried some new to me things. Not everything works out.

Possibly just planted too late, or, too early. All of those like cool weather and will tend to go bitter when it turns too hot. Michilli cabbage is a Chinese cabbage and when the head forms it will not be fuzzy. Mustard tends to be tangy. I think mostly meant to add a little to a salad. The chard may be better when the weather cools off. You could let it grow until then, chop the stems and leaves, stir fry the stems first then add the leaves. If you like vinegar, sprinkle on. I personally like to add bacon bits and a sprinkling of shredded Swiss cheese or parmesean.

I am happy if I can pull even just a couple of summer squash. Used to be my plants all died BEFORE i could harvest any so I am happy this year! Always challenges in the garden.

Really, I keep trying out different greens but mostly dissapointed. Not such a big deal, it is just an experiment to see if I find any I like and if not, no big deal in my mind. I will be pulling all three and not replanting. Maybe get more Bok Choi going in the fall. We will see.

I broiled up that zucchini I had. Very nice creamy texture on it and very nice flavor. Had it for lunch.

I'm not big on greens other than lettuce. I just try to grow a large variety of lettuces. Oh, I do like the chard.

So far a bust on the chard for me. I didn't like Bright Lights I had last year and don't like this years green chard any better. Oh well, I will try much earlier in the spring next year.

I just was out there spraying all my zucchini and yellow squash with the Neem oil. Decided to do that right away after watering the pots (which I do every day) because I saw a Squash Vine Borer Moth flying around the squash plants. I am hoping to kill any eggs that might be laid even though again, I don't see any. But the Neem kills eggs if it comes in contact with them and it also protects the plants from Powdery Mildew. The powdery mildew has at least stopped since I started with the Neem.

Fingers crossed.

Maybe that shoud be an icon?

I am hoping for the best.

Ha! Peppers near ready to pick.


Cucumberville growing like crazy.


Eggplants!!! Lots of small ones.

Gretal White Eggplants


Fairy Tale


Iciban

Forgot to post my tiny melons! This is the biggest one so far but lots more smaller than that.

Now that I posted the good stuff, here are those "dead" zucchini plants.




You really can't see the stems but they are a mess. Don't look like they can support any healthy growth. Now I see one big problem of pots is that I don't see any way I can bury those stems to get new roots growing.

>> I don't see any way I can bury those stems to get new roots growing.

Here are some possible speculations that you may have already considered and discarded.

If you're willing to sacrifice one or two big nursery pots, you could make a collar. Cut out the bottom and slit it up the side. Pull it open and wrap it around the plant. Push it a little ways into the soil, between the soil and the white pot's sides. If the white pot is bigger than the nursery pot, use a second slit nursery pot to cover the gap. Duct tape them together, and maybe duct tape the collar to the white pot. Filling potting mix.

If you had some stiff plastic, you wouldn't have to sacrifice big pot.

Or ...

Have someone hold the plant and trellis, lifting it up while you remove the existing pot. Assuming the root ball doesn't disintegrate, plop the whole thing back down into a wider, much taller pot, like a 5-gallon bucket.

Or maybe just drop the existing pot into a 5-gallon bucket and fill the whole thing with soil, as deeply as you want new roots.

Rick, I had not thought of any of your suggestions. I will have to put my thinking cap on but those are all excellent ideas.

Thanks! The "collar" might not need to be as wide as the current pot. Maybe a smaller "chimney" wrapped around the stem would be enough to encourage adventitious roots, which would then grow down and displace existing roots in the white pot. Say, a collar the size of a gallon milk jug or 3-liter soda bottle.

A rather bad idea also just occurred to me. Maybe 2-3 layers of heavy plastic might be wrapped around the outside of the white pot, duct-taped to it. Then duct-tape the seam, and maybe wrap 1-2 bands of duct tape around the plastic (like a belt or girdle).

Then carefully add potting mix, trying to avoid the plastic coming apart and dumping the soil. Probably after filling it with mix, more circles of duct tape (girdles) would be needed to keep it from falling apart.

I like the collar chimney idea. I might try that. Honestly these plants look so bad that the only great idea is to pull and toss them but I am not doing that yet all because of using this as a learning experience to see if I can get ride of those borers.

Understood! Fiddling is how we learn ... or call it "research".

Actually the plants don't look that bad. I had some worse that survived and I just mounded the soil on top of the stems where I slit them. Worth a try?

abhege said:Actually the plants don't look that bad. I had some worse that survived and I just mounded the soil on top of the stems where I slit them. Worth a try?

Should I split the stems to see if I can find the borers?

Maybe poke a needle her and there until you feel the resistance that means "bug"?

maybe shine a bright light through the stem to see if there is a shadow? Like candling an egg?

No Rick, that doesn't work. I already stick the stems with a hypodermic needle when I inject them with spinosad. Can't see anything for sure.